Subject 2343
by Pitts Princess 12
Summary: All she wanted was a relaxing day to do a little shopping. But instead she's got a missing Doctor, a mystery in the alien market and the Doctors sonic screwdriver. The Doctor is being held prisoner and being used as a lab rat. Can Rose find him in time or will the damage be done? Rated M just to be safe. Rose/10
1. Don't wander off

A/N- I published this story ten years ago this month. I never finished it though. At the time it was my first foray into the angsty side of fiction. I wrote it under the penname Lily Morin, but have long since lost my password for her. So, I've decided to edit this, and post it as I edit it, then I plan on finishing it. Hope you guys like it, as it was fun to write (and now edit) This takes place before Doomsday and after Girl in the Fireplace.

A/N2- I don't own any of these charters, they all belong to the BBC.

Chapter One -o- Don't wander off

The 'don't wander off' rule had always been in place for her, not that it was something she followed, or that he really expected her to follow. Though neither of them had ever really thought the rule should apply to him, after all, he knew what he was doing, where they were, who the people (or aliens) were, and how to get out of (almost) any bad situation. When they walked out the door of their safe haven, into the wide open world, or moon, or space station, it was always with the acceptance that something bad was going to happen, and that they'd fix it. It was just how their luck worked. But when he got that look in his eyes and told her to 'stay put' because he had to look into something, they both knew she wouldn't. He'd wander one way and she wander another, and eventually, they both met in the middle with a solution. And that was how it worked, it was a good system, she always came back, and so did he, until he didn't.

-o-o-

Rose pushed open the doors to the TARDIS, a huge smile on her face, her arms loaded down with bags. They had stopped here, on her request, for a relaxing day of shopping. Of course the Doctor wanted nothing to do with her shopping, seeing as, when she got started she could be at it for hours.

' _I'm sure there are a few things that need a little-_

' _Jiggery-pokery?' Rose had interrupted him and he'd smiled nodding his head._

' _Exactly,' he'd said reaching into his jacket and pulling out a small think metal card. 'It's a...well, a credit card, for the most part.' He'd handed it over to her and she'd held back the squeal of excitement as she took it from him. 'Don't be gone to long, yeah?'_

' _I won't,' she'd told him smiling happily thinking of all the very neat things she was going to find at the alien street market. After all, the Doctor had promised to take her back for her mum's birthday, sometime soon. She hugged him and then ran down the ramp and out the doors._

She set all her bags down next to the console and looked around the room. No sign of the Doctor, in fact it didn't even look as though he'd been working on anything. She rolled her eyes and wondered just what had taking him off track, because there was always something. She started towards the door to the hall and thought about the best place to start looking.

An hour later and she still hadn't found him; she was beginning to worry a little. She had been all over the known ship, though she was sure it went on forever. She'd been everywhere he went, the library, the wardrobe, the kitchen, the med-bay, his room, her room, the pool, a funny little white room that she didn't recognize, he was nowhere. She'd even asked the TARDIS for help, seeing as they were such good friends after...everything that had happened, but she didn't know any more then Rose. And the TARDIS couldn't just speak, she had no real words, she communicated in...emotions in a way, hard to understand unless you'd had her in your head for a while.

Finally she sat down at the kitchen table and sighed as she tried to pull in her worry. Perhaps he'd decided he needed something after all and just hadn't thought to leave her a note, to 'domestic' for him. Well if that was the case they would have words about it, and she was sure they would be loud words. Or maybe he was tucked away in some room she'd never seen and didn't know how to get to. He'd walk into the kitchen any moment asking about dinner and her shopping. She looked up at the door and sighed, she didn't think that was the case.

She looked at her watch, she'd left three hours ago to go shopping, she'd been searching for an hour now, so...one and a half hours left then. She sat back in her chair and tried to work out some kind of a plan.

'Five and a half hours, always wait five and a half hours,' He'd told her that once, so she'd wait. She'd give him his five and a half hours, and then she was doing what she always did, find him and fix whatever had gone wrong.

-o-o-

She was practically bouncing off the walls one hour and 24 minutes later. She was walking around the console, looking down at the switches, running her hands over them, hating that she was starting to feel a little helpless. She looked down at her watch again took a deep breath then looked at the TARDIS doors. He still had five minutes, but Rose was done waiting. She grabbed her jacket and her credit card from the jump chair and fingered the key that hung around her neck. She walked over to the door and stopped for just a moment.

"He'll be fine," She said not sure if she was reassuring herself or talking to the TARDIS. "He'll be fine and we'll be back soon." She opened the door and stepped into the bright sunny day, ready to find her wayward Doctor.

-o-o-Dark-o-o-

Cold

It was so cold. That was the first thing to enter his mind as he finally fought back the darkness enough to think. It was cold, and when he finally managed to open his eyes, he could see it was dark too, very, very dark. He rolled onto his back, very slowly and with great effort and much pain, groaning when he was finally looking up, at nothing. There were no stars, and no moons or clouds, so he was inside. He pushed himself up slowly as he took inventory of his body; everything seemed to be working, if a little sore. His head hurt like he'd been run over by a car, and he should know, having been run over before. When he reached up and ran his hand through his hair he could feel the goose egg on his temple, and could feel the warm stickiness that was his blood, well, that never boded well. He looked around the room, but none of it looked familiar. He tried to look back in his memories, what was the last thing he remembered? He remembered giving Rose the- _Rose_!

"Rose!" he called hoarsely his voice oddly weak. When no one answered he was not relieved, not yet anyway. He remembered giving her the credit card, watching her leave to go shopping, so was she here (wherever 'here' was) trapped with him or was she safe on the TARDIS. He sat up farther and tried to stand, he needed to figure out just how trapped he was.

"Rose?" He asked again feeling around in his pocket for his sonic screwdriver. He tried not to worry too much when he came up empty, of everything. His pockets, _his_ pockets, were empty.

"No rose's here," A dry, unconcerned voice said to his right and he turned quickly as a light suddenly filled the room. "Subject 23-43 seems unaffected as of yet, and has shown no signs of infection. We have never worked with a subject quite as...unusual, as this one."

"I'm sorry, what?!" The Doctor shouted as he looked around the small room he was in. There were no doors, no windows, nothing but four white walls and a small cot in the corner.

"We will up its dosage," The disembodied voice said and then everything went dark again.

-o-o-Searching-o-o-

Rose stood, just outside the TARDIS, not really sure just where to start. She'd never really been on this end of the search before. For the most part, and though she was loath to admit it, it was usually her being rescued by the Doctor. And sometimes of course, they saved each other, but she'd never had to search for him, rescue him, save him. She took a deep breath and then stepped towards the market, the best place to start, was probably the one place she might get answers.

She hurried to the small parts shop she'd passed on her way into the street market. It had made her think of the Doctor when she'd passed it earlier. Huge unfamiliar piece of machines, and filthy oil covered parts sat in the window. She was sure, if the Doctor decided he needed something for the TARDIS he would have come here. She pushed the door open and looked around. The shop was small, hardly the size of her mum's living room. Shelves lined all the walls covered in parts. She recognized nothing, but that didn't surprise her. She navigated her way around the odds and ends that littered the walk way as she made her way over to the front desk.

There was a tall dark skinned man; at least she was pretty sure it was a man, sitting behind the desk, some kind of a hologram thing sitting in front of him, the pages changing when he waved his hand over it. She walked over and cleared her throat to get his attention. He looked up and Rose blinked in shock for only a moment at the man's third eye, right above his other two, sitting in the middle. He sighed deeply and waved his hand over the hologram and it went blank.

"Yes?" He demanded, his voice irritated.

"Um...well," She fumbled for the right words, she really didn't know how to do this. He glared at her and she nodded. "I was wondering if you've seen my friend, he may have come in here a few hours ago. He's about this tall," He held her hand a little above her head. "Brown hair, huge smile, pinstriped suit?" The man looked bored as he stared at her for a moment.

"He was here," He said nodding his head, looking slightly less then bored. "He looked around, asked questions, and then he left."

"Oh good," Rose said nodding her head, a starting point. "Did he-

"He was here, then he left," he said again glaring at her again. "He's not here anymore and if he's gone missing best you leave it alone and got on with things. People don't go missing then come back." He stood up taking his hologram thing with him. "Not 'round here." He said before he walked through a door to his back, slamming it behind him.

Rose stood there staring at the door for a long minute. What the hell did that mean? Did people go missing a lot around here? Finally she shook herself out of her shock and walked out the door. She needed a few answers, and, planet earth or alien moon, the best place to get answers, was a pub.

-o-o-

Rose had stayed away from the small little pub when she'd been shopping. It looked like one of those pubs you found at the end of a dark creepy alley back home. Not the kind of place you go to grab some chips that was for sure. She took a deep breath then put on her best intimidation face and pushed open the door. She stepped inside and it felt like she'd stepped into one of those old westerns, where everyone in the place looks up at the newcomer. She glared at everyone as she stepped farther into the room; she went over to the bar and sat down. She was hoping bar tenders all over the universe were as chatty as the ones back home.

"What'd'ya want?" A young man asked walking up to her from behind the bar. He looked human, for the most part, and that was a little comforting.

"I'm looking for someone," She told him, keeping her voice mildly low. "A friend of mine's gone missing."

"Oh yeah?" He asked, sounding bored, just like the last guy, almost like they'd heard this all before.

"Yeah," Rose said nodding her head. "I was hoping, well someone told me it was common around here, for people to up and disappear?"

"'S common alright," He said nodding his head as he leaned onto the bar. "Folks come from all over the place to see the street market, some of'em never find their way home again."

"Never?" Rose asked not liking the sound of that. Well obviously these people don't look hard enough for their friends.

"No one knows where they go, no one." He told her and Rose got the impression he was trying to scare her. "And none of'em _ever_ come back. We've had a few people look, or send people to look. But if _they_ come back, they come back empty handed."

"Well," Rose said shaking her head. "None of them ever had me lookin' for them." She told him as she stood. "Do you know...that is, have they all disappeared from the same place?"

"All over, up and down the market street. One second there, next second not. Magic," he told her and Rose nodded her head. While this place wasn't medieval by any means, it was still a few decades or so behind earth, so it may very well seem like magic to them. Of course what they thought of as magic, she knew had to be some kind of teleport, transmat beam maybe. She walked over to a kind of cash machine thing slipped in the card and then took the coins that dropped out.

"Thanks," She told the bar tender as she set down a few coins.

-o-o-

Sitting on the edge of the bed the Doctor was trying to formulate a plan of action, but his mind felt, odd. Ideas kept slipping through his fingers, he couldn't hold on to a single thought for more than a few seconds and he felt light headed whenever he tried to stand up and pace a little. Something was going on; someone was doing something to him. He couldn't figure out where he was, or who these people were. What did they want with him? Did they have Rose here somewhere? Even the thoughts of Rose passed through his mind quickly, when normally he would have been more worried over her then himself.

He sat up and looked around the room when the lights flashed on again. The lights kept coming on, then going out, and it was always the same voice speaking when the lights came on.

"Subject 23-43 is pale and shaky on its feet. It seems confused and disorientated. These are the first side effects, it seems to be working." The Doctor stood up and then had to place his hand on the wall to keep from falling.

"What's going on? Where am I? Answer me!" He demanded, though his voice was hardly louder than a whisper. He collapsed onto his cot again hardly able to hold himself up. The lights went out all around him again and, just as before, he felt his mind quickly shutting down as he lost consciousness.

-o-o-Searching-o-o-

Rose was back on the TARDIS, trying to figure out if there was a way to scan for alien technology. She tried to get answers from the TARDIS, but it was a very limited conversation as neither of them spoke the others language. She had been at it for almost two hours now and she didn't know what else to do. She knew he'd been scooped up by some kind of transmat beam, or some such thing. She didn't know why or by whom, but she did know that it happened here a lot, and that people never came back from it. She growled in frustration and she stomped her foot and stepped away from the console.

"Why did he never show me how to _do_ any of this?!" She demanded to the ship at large. He had been missing now for almost ten hours, and she was nowhere closer to finding him then she had been when she'd started. Finally she shook her head snatched up her jacket and her card and stomped out the door again. An 'on foot' search would get her farther then standing around was.

The door closed behind her and she looked around the street. It had gone quiet while she'd been inside. She walked out down the small alley they had landed in and saw that all the street venders had closed up and that night had fallen. Rose took a few steps into the street and looked around. Everything was so quiet, so serene now that it wasn't filled with hundreds of humans and aliens. As she was walking down the street, not really sure what she was looking for, she saw a glimmer of light on the ground. She took a few steps towards it then stopped. She bent over to get a better look and all the air went out of her when she saw what it was. Slowly she reached out and picked up the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

She stood back up with it in her hand, staring at it. This was very disheartening because if the Doctor didn't have this, he was without his main weapon.

-o-o-

When he came to again he was still in his cot, only his arm and neck were sore, like he'd slept on them wrong, but he never slept on something wrong, he was to 'aware' even when he was sleeping, to do something like that. He reached down and felt along his arm, there was a bump in the skin, a miniscule one, but he could feel it. They had injected something into him.

'Side affects' that was what the voice had been talking about. They were testing something on him, and probably others. They were all lab rats. He looked up sharply and his head swam with the movement. He looked slower this time to the wall where a latch opened and a tray slid into his room, a spotlight on the floor where it stopped. It had food on it, or something of the kind. He stood slowly, keeping his hand on the wall, and looked the food over. He didn't suppose there was any reason to poison them, and if he was going to get out of here, he'd need to keep up whatever strength he could. He sat down in front of it and ate slowly trying to hold onto the thoughts of escape.

-o-o-Answers-o-o-

Rose sat down in the jump seat and started at the sonic screwdriver. She hated that he didn't have it. Had he dropped it before he got beamed away? But that would seem to say he'd done it on purpose. Why would he purposely give up his only tool? Unless he didn't want whoever had him to get their hands on the technology, wouldn't be the first time he'd done something like that. Rose sighed and then she sat the screwdriver onto the center console. She jumped up when the screwdriver glowed green for a moment then a green laser light shoot out of it.

" _Emergency Program A"_ Rose flinched at the words as the Doctor's figure appeared in front of her.

" _Know you must hate these things,"_ The Doctor said and Rose nodded her head hoping he could shed some kind light on what was going on. _"If this has been activated something has happened to me."_ Rose looked up and around to make sure that the TARDIS hadn't started to move, that he wasn't sending her home again.

" _You're not going anywhere,"_ He said shaking his head as though reading her mind. _"Only need to learn that lesson once."_ Rose grinned and nodded her head once. _"But I'm either lost or have been kidnapped,"_ Rose smirked and shook her head at the thought of him being 'kid' napped. _"Well there's always a first for everything. There's a setting on the sonic screwdriver that will pin point my location. All you'll have to do is feed in the coordinates and TARDIS will take care of the rest. I'll be seeing you soon Rose."_ The figure of him disappeared and Rose jumped up from her seat.

"Wait, you didn't tell me the setting!" She yelled at the not there Doctor. She was growing close to tears when the light flashed back on and the Doctor appeared in front of her again, smirking.

" _Embarrassing that, yeah? Setting 235-3, I have complete faith in you Rose."_ He shimmered and disappeared again. Rose ran over to the screwdriver and got to work.

A/N- So, here's chapter one, I hope you guys like it. I'd love to get reviews! I'll probably be able to post one chapter a day for the first 4; they're the ones I already have written. Then it may take a little more in between.


	2. Interference

Chapter Two -o- Interference

A/N- **Warning:** This story is rated because it deals in drug addition, so if that's not of your liking I'm sorry. I've never had a major addiction, so I've never gone through this kind of withdrawal, so I hope I did it justice. Thanks all!

Read On!

Chapter Two -o- Interference

Rose stared at the screen as her frustration mounted. She knew something had gone wrong, could feel it in the waves of unease the TARDIS was giving off. But she couldn't tell what had happened, what was going on, because the damn screen was all written in Gallifreyan. She remembered the Doctor telling her once that it was the only language the TARDIS didn't translate, for anyone. She shook her head as she snatched the sonic screwdriver off the console. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she couldn't just sit there. She thought she'd try, one more time, to get it translated for her.

"Isn't there some way?" She pleaded softly as she looked around the ship. "Some way you could tell me what's happened? Maybe translate this for me? Just this once?" Rose looked on helplessly as the screen stayed the same. She looked down at her watch and sighed, he'd been gone almost fifteen hours now. Her head shot up at the soft _beep...beep...beep..._ that was coming from the screen. She stepped over to it and let out a cheer at the English scrolling down the screen now.

"Wait, wait, slow down," Rose said as information passed by her eyes. "I can't read like he can," she reminded the ship and it scrolled back to the top and stopped. Rose sent out a silent thanks to the TARDIS as she began to read through the information.

There was something interfering with the tracing signal. Whatever the ship was tracing did not have a strong enough link, and there was nothing that could be done to strengthen it. There was a lot of technical information that she skimmed over, not really understanding it. At the end of the writing she smiled again though. The TARDIS had narrowed down the Doctor's location to within a forty mile radius. The TARDIS could take her to the middle of the radius and the tracing could continue on foot, because, the closer she got to the Doctor, the stronger the signal would be.

"Forty miles," Rose muttered to herself as she looked down at the sonic screwdriver. That was a lot of space to search. Rose nodded her head as she thought about how she was going to do this. How would she know if she was getting closer? There wasn't bound to be a huge sign somewhere 'Lost Doctors found here.' The screwdriver in her hand began to mimic the steady beeping that was still coming from the screen. Rose looked from it to the screen and back again then smiled. A homing beacon...that _had_ to be what this was, to tell her when she was getting closer or if she was getting off track.

"Thank you," Rose said as she rushed from the control room towards her own room. Forty miles _was_ a long ways to go, and he could be anywhere with in that area, she was going to need a few things; because, once she was out there she wasn't coming back till she had the Doctor with her. She kicked off her trainers when she got to her room and put on her best most comfortable hiking boats. She threw a few things in a backpack then ran down to the kitchen, throwing nonperishables into her bag as well, along with two bottles of water.

' _Rose,'_ she stopped in her tracks at the voice in her head. She looked around but got the distinct feeling she was being talked to by the TARDIS, lots of firsts today. _'Can't do it often, your human mind can't take it,'_ it didn't surprise her that the TARDIS sounded like a female version of the Doctor. _'When you find him, call, I will come for you.'_

With those words the presence in her mind was gone and she looked around once more, almost expecting to see someone standing behind her. She had a feeling that by 'call' the TARDIS didn't mean on the phone. She slung the bag over her shoulders and then headed for the main door, closing it tightly behind her.

-o-o-

"Something is trying to trace our location," a dark haired man said looking up at the man standing behind him. He nodded his head, a small smirk on his face.

"Let them try," He said, his voice was rough and gravelly. "Nothing can find this place; do not concern yourself with it." He turned from the man and walked over to a large screens along one wall. "Now, tell me more about subject 23-43." He said as he watched a man in a dress shirt and pinstriped pants rock back and forth on a bed slowly.

-o-o-

He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, and that in itself was telling. He had a hold on time like no other being in any world, and he was starting to lose his grip. It seemed, every time it started to get really bad, when things began to really lose focus, the lights would go out. He'd black out again only to wake an undetermined amount of time later, and for a while, things would be better. He would be able to think again, for a while.

It didn't take him long to realize what was happening to him, what they were doing to him. Some kind of testing, illegal testing he was sure, but whatever they were testing, it was addictive, and he was sure, almost completely sure now, that he was addicted.

It was odd, to know that he, of all people, would suffer something as human as an addiction. His body chemistry made it almost impossible for him to become addicted to something, _almost_ , being the key word here. Whatever, or whoever these people were, they were advance in a way he had not seen before.

"Subject 23-43," The Doctor looked up at the voice and hated that his head went fuzzy at the sudden movement. "What _are_ you?" The voice asked and he realized it was a new voice, different, meaner.

"Time Lord," The words were out of his mouth almost before he thought them, almost as if they were forced from his mind.

"Interesting," The voice said and sent shivers down his spine. "You are of legend, not real." The voice said and the Doctor shook his head, hard, almost as though trying to clear his mind. It had been a long while since the lights went out, his head was starting to swirl with thoughts, and he was beginning to lose focus again.

"Real...enough," He got out as his speech became harder to come by. "What..." He groaned as he clenched his teeth together. "What are you...doing to...me?" He finally ground out as his head began to pound.

"Would you like me to turn out the lights?" The voice asked and the Doctor shook his head slowly, he would not give in. "Would it not make you feel better?" The voice asked and the Doctor knew, this man was _not_ interested in his well-being.

"No," The Doctor growled out through his clenched teeth.

"Ah, well," The voice said and the Doctor hated him then. "Give it time." He said and the Doctor was not surprised when the lights went out and he sank away from consciousness.

-o-o-Falling-o-o-

Rose had been sure that this was not going to be easy, she knew it was going to be hard, probably the hardest, longest thing she'd ever done. But, she had not thought it would be so endless. There had been a small jump in the beeping, but that was almost two hours ago, ever since she entered the little town she was in now. Since then it had slowed and sped up no matter which way she went. She was making no progress at all, but almost worse than that, she wasn't sure if she was going the right way or not. She wasn't sure if the sonic screwdriver was broken or she was just missing something important. She was starting to wonder if she should head out, try the next town. She looked around slowly, and smiled at the grass field that looked like it led to the next town over.

She stopped about 15 feet into the field. She looked down at the sonic screwdriver a little shocked. It had slowed down, a lot more than it had been doing when she'd been wondering the town, she was going in the wrong direction. Rose sighed in relief and turned to head back into the town. She walked towards the town on a different path then she'd taken when he left, hoping to get a different reading.

Rose had only taken a few steps when the ground fell out from under her feet. Before she even really registered that she was falling she hit the ground with a loud 'THUD' smashing her head against the hard ground. She raised her hand to her head as everything spun around her. She could feel the darkness trying to overtake her, but she fought it. She couldn't pass out, she had to find the Doctor, she had...to...find...

-o-o-Visions-o-o-

He blinked his eyes open and let out a shuttered breath. He sat up slowly and then blinked at what, or well, who, was sitting in front of him. Rose, her hair pulled away from her face and a soft smile playing on her lips. She reached out and brushed the sweat soaked hair out of his face. She lingered on his forehead for a moment then frowned.

"You have a fever." She said, her voice sounded, off, like she was far away for him.

"It's the drug," The Doctor told her, his head clear for the moment. "They're giving me something; I haven't figured it out yet. They must be doing some kind of testing."

"Well, you'll figure it out," Rose told him confidently nodding her head. The Doctor nodded his head too.

"How are you here?" He asked when his head cleared enough to wonder how she'd managed to get here. She smiled brightly at him and shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm always here, with you." She told him as she reached out and placed her hand over his hearts.

"But you're not." The Doctor said when he realized what was going on. Something they were giving him, it was making him hallucinate. He reached out to touch her, only his hand went right through her shoulder. "You're not real." He told her, disgusted with himself for not seeing it right off.

"Real enough," Rose said nodding her head as she took a deep breath. "I'm coming Doctor, I'm coming," She told him before she slowly disappeared from in front of him. He sat up slowly and looked around the room, missing her presence, even if she had only been in his mind.

-o-o-

"Have any of the other subjects shown signs of hallucination?" The gravelly voiced man asked and the dark haired man shook his head as he pulled up a few files.

"No, none of them sir," He said after a few minutes of searching. "A new side effect?"

"Perhaps," He said as he watched the screen in front of him. "But...I think not."

-o-o-

"I'm...coming," Rose mumbled as she blinked her eyes open. She pushed herself into a sitting position rolling her neck as she went. She groaned as the throbbing in her head intensified when she was fully upright. She looked around the small hole she was sitting in. She could see sunlight overhead, which meant she had been out for a long while. It had been heading towards twilight when she fell. She looked down at her watch and swore loudly, almost seven hours. She looked around and found the sonic screwdriver by her feet. It was still beeping; in fact, it was faster now than it had been before, not a lot, but faster still.

Faster, that meant she was closer to the Doctor, but how was that possible? She pulled her bag closer to her and opened it up and took out a bottle of water and took a long drink off it. She pulled out a breakfast bar as she stood up. The hole was only a little deeper then she was tall and only about 5 feet wide. She opened the bar and ate it in a few bites then looked around. She was sure she could leverage herself out of the hole pretty easily. She threw her bag up out of it and then tucked the sonic screwdriver into her pocket.

She reached up and got a good hold on the ground and used the back side of the hole to dig her feet in before she pulled and pushed herself up and out of the hole. When she was sitting on the edge she looked down in it, and wondered what the hole was, made by a hunter maybe? She swung her legs out and stood up slowly, then pulled the sonic screwdriver out of her pocket.

She frowned at the little screwdriver in her hand, it had slowed back down. She looked at the hole and then back at the screwdriver as a smile began to work its way onto her face. Underground, he was underground! No wonder the beeping had been changing, she'd been getting closer then farther away from him all day. she was right on top of the place they were keeping him. He was underground, some kind of subterranean facility? It must be almost as big as the town. Rose looked back at the town she had been searching last night; it was busy with activity now, people, and aliens rushing about on their way to wherever they were going. How was she going to go snooping around with all these people out and about?

-o-o-

It had been a long while since the lights had gone out and every muscle in the Doctor's body was beginning to shake uncontrollably. It was all he could do to keep himself from curling up on the cot and letting go. Though she was all in his mind, he believed Rose; he knew she was coming so he held on. Though his mind was so foggy and his body felt like all his veins were on fire, he held on, because he was stronger than this.

"And now, Time Lord?" The gravelly voice asked, he said the title with a mocking tint to his voice, as though he was skeptical that the Doctor was what he said he was. The Doctor shook his head slowly, _not_ giving in.

"I don't...think...you know...just who you're..." the Doctor curled into himself for a moment, trying not to show just how much pain he was in. His body was begging for whatever they had been giving him, screaming for it, but he would _not_ give in. "Dealing with." He ground out after a few seconds, when he had the pain under control.

"Up his dosage," The voice said and the Doctor shook his head. "I wonder...just how long you can hold on, hm?" The Doctor could hear the sneer in the voice as everything around him went dark again.

-o-o-

Rose had seen enough in her time with the Doctor to know that the mad scientist did not have lairs in the basement of hundred year old houses and the doors that lead to them were rarely really hidden behind a secret door in a bookshelf. So, when she started her search in town she looked for a building that could be the front to whatever was really going on. And she was sure, though she wasn't quite sure how, that some kind of testing was going on, like a lab of some kind. So, she figured, the best place to start was the hospital. She pulled the screwdriver out of her pocket and turned the beeping down to silent, no need to draw attention to herself.

It wasn't too hard to find, though it didn't look like any hospital she'd ever been to, but it had the green moon on the sign and on one side of the building, so she was sure it was the right place. She shivered slightly as she walked through the doors, she hated hospitals, something she was sure she'd picked up from the Doctor, and her most recent trip to a hospital.

' _That's where I'd put the shop, right there.'_ Rose smiled slightly over the memory and hoped she was headed in the right direction.

She walked into the hospital and looked around; she spotted the elevators and headed over. She pushed the down button and stepped on hoping this place didn't have disinfectant. She tensed for the shower and sighed in relief when nothing happened. She looked at the control panel and sighed again. Of course there couldn't be a button labeled 'Evil Lair.' She went as low as the elevator could go and stepped off at what appeared to be the morgue. She headed down a hall when she heard voices approaching, surely they would want to know what she was doing down here and really she hadn't thought that far ahead. She ducked into an unlocked room and closed the door silently behind her just as people turned the corner and then walked by her door.

She pulled out the sonic screwdriver and turned it on again. The beeping was so close together now, she was getting closer. Rose sighed in relief as she looked around the small room she was in. Why did the hospitals of the worlds seem to be evil in some way or another? When she was sure the coast was clear she stepped out from the room and headed down the hall keeping her eyes open for any...oddities.

Rose wondered the hall for nearly an hour, ducking into an empty room whenever she heard footsteps approaching, and she changed direction twice now when the beeping slowed down. She was sure she was on the right trail; she just needed to find a door that led farther down. She came to the end of the hall, a dead end and a control panel and decided to try and hack into it, like she'd seen the Doctor do before with the sonic screwdriver. The sonic screwdriver was now beeping one after another, hardly any pause at all, she had to be close.

-o-o-

The Doctor laid on his back, staring at the ceiling, just, staring. He wasn't thinking, wasn't planning, just staring, it was all he could really get his mind to do at the moment. There was an almost blissful silence in his mind as he stared at the ceiling. He was trying to think, _trying_ to pull thoughts into his head and keep them there, but he was having a very hard time of it. Finally a thought made its way through whatever was blocking his mind and he sat up.

"Rose?" he said as though he'd heard her. He looked around the room and the fog in his mind cleared a little more. He positioned himself so he was sitting against the wall, facing the slot where the food came out. He was going to try and time how long it took before everything began to hurt. With thoughts of Rose in his mind he seemed better able to focus as he stared at the wall now, thinking.

-o-o-

Rose looked the sonic screwdriver over in her hand quickly and tried to remember what setting the Doctor used when he was hacking into something. As soon as this was all over, and they were both safe and back on the TARDIS she was making him giver her lessons, on everything. This not-knowing-what-I'm-doing-with-all-your-alien-tech was starting to frustrate her. Finally she was sure she'd found the right one and she smiled as she ran it over the screen on the control panel. Things began to flash across the screen as a password screen popped up. There were five empty boxes on the screen and a keyboard underneath it, with odd hieroglyphics instead of letters. Rose ran the sonic screwdriver over the hieroglyphics, as she'd seen the Doctor do, then she pulled it away and moved the setting up one. She pointed it at the password boxes and the hieroglyphics began to cycle though in the boxes, stopping when it found the right symbol.

As soon as the last box was full the screen sank back into the wall, leaving an empty hole in the wall. She watched as, a second later, the hole widened, folding in on itself as it got bigger. She looked all around her, hoping this was right as she stepped into the doorway. She wasn't too shocked when the door shut quickly behind her. But it didn't matter; she didn't need to get back out again. She wondered if this hall was monitored, and hoped it wasn't.

She hadn't gotten very far down the hall way when a red light began to flash off and on all around her, and she was sure, she'd been found out. She picked up her pace as she moved down the long steep hall way. She needed to find the Doctor and get out of here, before she was trapped just like him.

-o-o-

The Doctor was watching his hand as it began to shake; it was an odd thing to see. He'd never really been out of control of his own body, and it was not something he was enjoying. It had been only an hour or so, he thought, since the last time the lights went out and already his body was beginning to go through withdrawals. It was getting worse, his body was getting too used to whatever they were giving him. If...no, he scolded himself shaking his head, _when_ he got out of here he was going to have a hell of a time getting over this stuff.

He looked up sharply as a light in his room began to flash on and off, some kind of a warning. He smirked a little, at least now he knew what species he was dealing with, only humans still used red as a warning color this far into the future.

"It seems we have an intruder," The Doctor growled slightly at the voice. It had been a long time since he'd found a sound he hated more than _'exterminate.'_ But this voice had done it. "I think she must be yours." He said and the Doctor pushed himself off the bed.

"You keep your hands off her!" He snarled, not really sure where to be looking. He was keeping the shaking to his right hand for the moment. But he wouldn't be able to stand for long.

"Important to you, is she?" He asked, and the Doctor could hear the interest in his voice. "I wonder if she would make as interesting a subject as you."

"I'm warning you, you...stay away from Rose." He told him, trying to make his voice menacing, though it was hard to keep the pain undercontrole, as he looked around the room. He was sure he was being watched, but he didn't know from where.

"Well, we'll see," The gravelly voiced man said then let out a short sigh. "Perhaps I'll even let her think she's won before I lock her up."

"No!" The Doctor screamed shaking his head then looking around franticly as the lights went out. He waited for the darkness to fill his mind but it didn't come. He waited still to see if anyone came in to give him, whatever it was they were giving him, but no one came. So, he sat and waited, hoping Rose had some kind of a plan.

-o-o-

Rose hid around a corner as men dressed all in dark blue ran by her hiding spot. They were obviously looking for her, but so far, luck seemed to be on her side. She crept out of her hiding place when she was sure they'd gone and ran down the hall. She came to a flight of stairs and ran down them, taking them two at a time. At the bottom of the stairs there were three ways to go, each hallway was lined with doorways, but the setup of the doors made her thing of prison cells and she was certain she was in the right place. Now, which hallway?

She held out the sonic screwdriver and walked down the hall to her right, the beeping slowed a tiny bit, she back tracked and went down the hall in front of her, and it sped up, so much that one beep wasn't even finished before the other beep.

She smiled as she ran down the hall, holding out the screwdriver as she went. She rushed passed a door then stopped and ran back, standing in front of the door; it was beeping, no pause, just and endless beep. She looked at the doorway. No handle, no hinges, how did it open? She turned the beeping off and switched settings, hoping it wasn't a deadlock seal as she ran it over the door. She looked around a little surprised that she wasn't being descended upon by the men in blue. She smirked as it occurred to her that they were _letting_ her find the Doctor. They didn't know she had a means of escape, they thought she'd get to him and they'd both be trapped. Finally after a few moments the door popped open to total darkness. Rose pushed the door farther open as she stepped into it.

"Doctor?" She whispered as she pushed the door open, letting in the light. He was sitting on the bed, his knees drawn up to his chest as he stared at her.

"Rose?" he asked, his voice held heavy skepticism and she nodded her head as she approached. She looked around the room; it was just big enough for the TARDIS to fit so she let the door close behind her. The Doctor's head snapped to the door as it locked again behind her.

"It's me," She said nodding her head again as she walked over to him. He looked horrible, his suit jacket and vest were thrown on the floor in the corner and his trainers were sitting on the edge of the bed. He had an odd frantic look in his eyes, and his hair was plastered to his face, sweat soaked. "Hey, what did they do to you?" She asked as she looked around the room.

"Rose, we have to..." He trailed off as the fog in his mind drifted in again. "We have to..." He couldn't seem to finish the sentence and Rose winced at the sight of him.

"Ok," She said nodding her head, closing her eyes. "So, I'm calling." She said a little louder then she'd been speaking. "I'm calling, come get us. I've got him. We're ready." She said as she walked over to the Doctor, she wrapped her arms around him.

"And where do you think you'll be going, hm?" Rose looked up at the voice and smirked as a sweet sound filled the air all around them.

"Home," She said as the TARDIS materialized around them. The last thing Rose heard before the TARDIS was fully formed was 'No!' from the gravelly voice. She looked over at the doors as, she assumed, the men in blue pounded on the outside of the TARDIS.

' _The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through those doors; believe me, they've tried.'_

She smirked and looked around the control room. She pulled the Doctor slowly from the cot he was sitting on. He looked around the room; he seemed to be a little awestruck.

"I don't sup- Rose stopped when the center column began to move up and down. She smirked as she pulled the Doctor from the room. The TARDIS was taking them away, probably to the void. They walked to the Doctor's room in silence, her holding him up almost completely.

"Rose?" The Doctor asked looking up at her as she helped him down onto his bed.

"Yes Doctor?" She asked as he looked up and met her eyes. There was something there that scared her to her core.

"This is going to be bad." He said before his eyes fluttered closed and he passed out.

A/N- Ok, so what do you think so far? I hope everyone likes it. It's a very interesting story to write, and I've never really done angst before so this is a whole new world for me. Well, anyway, tell me what you think. I love hearing from you.


	3. Fix You

**Chapter Three -o- Fix you**

' _This is going to be bad.'_

The words echoed in Rose's head as she sat by his bed, watching him. For the last half an hour or so he just lay there, looking to the entire world like he was sleeping. She'd checked his vitals, as best she could anyway. His hearts sounded a little fast, but both were still beating, and he was breathing fine, or had been till about five minutes ago. She didn't know what to do for him, how to help as he began to thrash a little in his bed. She rushed over from the chair she'd been in, pulling the stethoscope from the bedside table. She pushing his arms back, an unusually easy act, and listened to his hearts, they were frantic, beating a mile a minute. One of his arms broke loose of her hold and smacked her across the face as he thrashed around. She fell back, gasping a little. She watched as his eyes shot open, staring at her.

"Rose?" His eyes were frantic and his whole body seemed to shake as he tried to sit up.

"Here now," Rose said coming back to his side, trying to settle him. "You should stay in bed."

"Rose," He said again, awe in his voice this time. He reached out, his hand shaking like a leaf in the wind, he stopped and clenched his hand into a tight fist for a moment and when he opened it up again it had stopped shaking. He brushed his now calm hand over her cheek. "I'm sorr- He clenched his teeth and winced, curling into himself. He groaned and Rose hated just sitting there, not knowing how to help him.

"Doctor," Rose said putting her hand on his shoulder. "I don't...how can I help?" She asked desperately.

"There's nothing you can do," He said shaking his head slowly as he uncurled to look up at her as the pain eased, a little. She could hear all the pain in his voice that he was keeping hidden from his face. She knew he didn't want to frighten her with just how much pain he was in.

"Whatever- He stopped for a moment and took a deep painful breath. "Whatever they were testing on me was very addictive." He told her and she could see the sweat on his forehead at the efforts he was putting forth. "Its withdrawals," He told her looking away from the red spot forming on her cheek below her eye. After a moment he looked back up at her and could see the tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," She said and he was shocked. She was so sorry, she hadn't been fast enough. He would have had her out in a hour. She'd left him there for more than a day. Fat lot of good she was.

"Why?" He asked astonishment lacing his voice. "Rose, you saved me." He told her and she shook her head.

"Not in time, not before..." She trailed off as she continued to shake her head lightly. She'd totally let him down, and now he was going through withdrawals. "I was too late."

"No you weren't," He told her, his voice hard, no room for argument. "Rose, you saved me." He reached out, almost afraid to touch her, and took a gentle hold on her chin and made her look at him. She tried to ignore the fact that his hand shook, just a little as he held her. " _You_ saved me."

"The TARDIS helped, a lot." She finally said after a few minutes of staring at him. He smiled, or tried to, and nodded his head.

"Rose, I think, well I'm pretty sure, whatever they were giving me, it was strong and- He paused and looked up at her, his face looked normal, unless you looked in his eyes, there you could see all the pain he was holding back. "How long was I there for?" He asked and Rose was a little surprised by the question, but she hid it well.

"Over 30 hours." Rose told him her voice low.

"To be so dependent on it already," He murmured, his voice low, as though he was talking to himself. "Rose, this is going to be hard. When I was there, I got shaking and foggy minded after only an hour or so without it, at least I think it was about an hour." He looked around his room and back at her. "How long have we been here?"

"About 30 minutes," She said after looking at her watch. He nodded his head and tensed as stabbing pains shot through his stomach and chest. He was hiding it well, for the moment, but Rose could see what it was costing him to hold it back.

"I think, if I can just get through the first forty-eight hours, it should be ok." He told her nodding his head. "Not great, but it'll be all uphill from there."

"Ok," Rose said ignoring the 'I' part of that statement for the moment. "When you say foggy minded?" Rose asked and the Doctor blinked a few times at her taking a deep breath.

"I'd feel, off...can't concentrate, I could hardly hold any thoughts in my head at first, about anything, I was worried about you, worried you were there too, but I couldn't really figure out why, or how. After a while it got a little easier, as my body adjusted to the drug. Then they'd up the dosage." He shook his head a few times softly and then looked up at her. "I knew I needed to get out of there, but I couldn't keep my mind on the thought long enough to formulate a plan, and...there was something missing." He closed his eyes as he tried to think back to first waking there.

"This?" Rose asked holding up his sonic screwdriver.

"Yes!" He said nodding his head then stopping as it made him dizzy. "Oh..." He trailed off on a moan as her slight smile slipped into a deep frown. "Rose...you should...you should go." He told her as his hands curled up into tight fists, his fingernails digging into his palms.

"Not a chance," Rose told him shaking her head as she wondered what she might need for this.

" _You have a fever." She said, her hand resting on his forehead._

" _It's the drug," The Doctor told her, his head clear for the moment. "They're giving me something; I haven't figured it out yet. They must be doing some kind of testing."_

The memories came to her unbidden though she wasn't really sure where they came from. She slowly reached out and touched his forehead. He was already starting to burn up. She looked around the room loath to have to get up and go to the bathroom to get supplies.

"You need me," She told him, seeing as he looked like he was going to argue with her. He nodded his head slowly, as though he didn't want to admit it.

"What if..." He trailed off again and this time she could see the pain sweep through him. His whole body seemed to be vibrating and she could see he was fighting against curling in on himself. "What...if...I...hurt you?" He finally spit out, leaving off the 'again.'

"What? This?" Rose asked touching the bruise that was already forming under her eye. She smiled at him reassuringly then sat down on the bed next to him. "'Tis but a scratch," Rose joked, her voice light and airy. The Doctor smiled weakly at her, nodding his head again. His eyes fluttered and he took a deep breath and then was out again. She was sure it was more 'passing out' then 'falling asleep,' but she was sure he'd need the rest either way.

-o-o-Broken-o-o-

Rose took the now warm wash cloth off his forehead and placed it in the bowl full of ice and water. She'd dashed to the bathroom, which, thanks to the TARDIS had been right next to the Doctor's room, when he'd passed out. She took everything she thought she might need, and even a few things she wasn't sure she'd need. She wrung out the now chilled towel and placed it back on his head and he let out a little groan.

He sat up so fast that Rose jumped up from his bed. The rag fell with a _plop_ onto the bed. His eyes were wide and wild as he looked around the room then back at her. He scurried back towards the top of the bed with his back pressed to the headboard. His eyes landed on hers and he shook his head.

"You're not real," He told her, his voice was soft but harsh as he shook his head.

"I am," Rose said nodding her head. "As real as you," She assured him and he shook his head harder now. She tried to reach out to him but he winced back.

"No!" He barked at her and she stopped moving.

"Ok," She told him nodding her head slowly. "Ok, I'll stay here."

"What are you doing to me?" He demanded though now Rose was sure he wasn't talking to her. "Are you in my head too?" He asked shaking his head, hard. She wondered if the pain had eased or if he just wasn't feeling it right now. Then he reached up and pulled on his hair a little and ran his fingers through the sweat soaked strands.

"This isn't right," He said looking at her, she was sure he was seeing her, but he obviously didn't believe she was really there.

"Doctor, please," Rose said hating the mistrust that was in his eyes as he watched her. "I'm real, really I am." She said taking a step towards him. "You're safe; we're back on the TARDIS." She told him looking around his room.

"TARDIS?" He asked and she nodded her head hoping he was _seeing_ her now. She could feel the calming waves the TARDIS was sending out and she hoped it helped calm the Doctor.

"Yes, you're safe, we saved you, remember?" She asked finally close enough to reach out, but she was afraid to touch him, so she just held her hand out, palm up, waiting for him. He hesitantly reached out towards her hand, his eyes on her the whole time. Finally his hand met hers and he pushed his palm against hers. He looked surprised that he could touch her. Though she guessed if he thought she was a hallucination he wouldn't expect to be able to touch her. He looked from their hands to her and back again before finally looking up to meet her eyes again.

"Rose?" he asked, his voice choked up with fear and tears. He slowly eased back down the bed, still eyeing her a little warily.

"It's me," she told him as she slide down next to him, twining their hands together. "I'm here," She assured him nodding her head as she scooted up farther onto the bed.

"Rose," Her name broke on a sob and she pulled him somewhat into her lap, running her hand over his head, murmuring words of comfort as he sobbed silently in her lap.

-o-o-

Rose sat across from the now sleeping Doctor, his legs pulled up to his chest, in a semi fetal position. Every few minutes he would flinch or twitch and Rose would ready herself for him waking. She wasn't sure what to expect of him now. She looked down at her watch and sighed, wishing with all her might that she could speed time up from him, get him passed this faster. He'd only been back in the TARDIS for eight hours now, and three or so of them he'd been asleep, she didn't like to think about what else he was going to have to go through. How he could sleep now, with all the pain he was in, she didn't know, but she was glad he could.

"Rose," Her name was a mumble on his lips and she looked down at him. She blinked having not realized she'd stood up and started pacing. "Rose?" It was more frantic this time, though she could tell he was still asleep. She walked quickly over to him and knelt down next to his bed. She reached over him and took one of his hands while she reached out with the other hand and smoothed back his hair.

"I'm here," She whispered leaning in so she was closer to him. "I'm here." He seemed to still at her voice then let out a soft sigh and relaxed. She tucked her free hand under her arm and laid her head down on her arms.

-o-o-

She jerked awake some time later in a blind panic. It didn't take her long to figure out what was wrong, the Doctor was gone. She pulled herself up quickly and rushed from the room, she looked back and forth down the hall then heard coughing, it sounded painful and Rose winced. She moved to the closed bathroom door and knocked softy.

"Doctor?" She asked and heard running water now. She wondered if he'd been sick, "are you alright?"

"I'm...fine," His voice ground out and she knew he was gritting his teeth in pain. "Bathroom break," he told her keeping his voice more even now. He looked up from the sink into the mirror and winced at what he saw there. His eyes looked sunken and his hair looked it hadn't been washed in days. As he stood there staring at himself he realized it had been days since he took a shower.

"I'm going to take a shower," He told her seconds before sharp pains shot through his chest and abdomen; he doubled over, making as little noise as possible, one hand on the sink, holding him up.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" He heard Rose ask from the other side of the door. Her voice was so full of worry and she sounded slightly dismayed. He opened his mouth to answer her, still slightly curled in on himself, but he couldn't speak for fear of crying out in pain. He was doing his best to hide this from Rose. He didn't want her to see him like this. He knew she was blaming herself for his pain, so he had to do his best to keep her from seeing it.

"Doctor?" She said more worried now. She knocked on the door and then knocked again.

"Rose," He said weakly, not even a whisper, before he collapsed to the floor. His breathing sounded more like hissing now as he tried to control the pain. He could hear the pounding on the door, though it sounded far away.

"I'm coming in," Rose yelled, defiance in her voice now as she tried for the door. "Doctor! Open the door!" She yelled and he looked up at the door as dark spots began to fill his vision. "Doctor!" She cried pounding on the door. Then everything went silent and he blinked a few times slowly, the dark spots got bigger, then they filled his vision completely and he passed out on the bathroom floor.

-o-o-Worry-o-o-

It only took her three minutes to get the sonic screwdriver out and open the bathroom door, but it felt like hours to her. She found him, his arms wrapped around himself, lying curled up on the floor. He looked so sad and helpless there on the floor. Helpless, now that was something she was not use to seeing in the Doctor. She checked him over, right there on the floor, he seemed to be ok, elevated heart rate and breathing, but he seemed ok. Running for her life with him seemed too have strengthened her up a lot because picking him up off the floor and half carrying, half dragging him back the bedroom wasn't as hard as she would have though. She put him back in his bed then looked down at what he was wearing. It looked like he must have been sick, because his shirt was spotted with something. He's taken his slacks off too, so all he had on were his boxers and his undershirt.

She pulled his stained shirt up and over his head carefully, ruffling his hair even worse. She went to his dresser and pulled open the top one. It was filled with dress shirts; she was surprised by the tears that filled her eyes at sight of how immaculate they all looked, folded and sorted by color, courtesy of the TARDIS, Rose was sure. She went through all his drawers till she found his Jim-Jams. She pulled out a pair and then walked back over to him, still totally gone to the world, and dressed him in the shirt and pants.

She sat down next to him when she was done and took his hand in hers. She leaned down and laid her head next to his and whispered that it was going to be ok, that she would help him through this, and after a while, she fell asleep, their hands locked together.

-o-o-Talking-o-o-

This time Rose woke to the sounds of a thrashing and heavy breathing. She sat up and looked down at him as he thrashed around on the bed. She put her hands on his shoulders and tried to wake him. She took deep breaths herself trying to keep from crying as she watched his breathing ease a little.

"Doctor, wake up," She whispered softly as his eyes fluttered.

"Rose?" His voice sounded weak and far away and Rose sniffed and nodded her head when his eyes slowly opened and looked up at her. At least she didn't see any distrust or fear this time.

"Hi," She said hating that a few tears leaked free. He reached up to wipe them away and they both watched his shaking hand as it rose to her face. It seemed his hands hadn't been still since she got him back. He wiped the tears away, and more replaced them quickly.

"Don't cry," He told her softly and she nodded her head, trying to smile at him. She needed to be strong for him, he needed her to be strong.

"Right," She agreed as she leaned over and rested her hand over his hearts. "How do you feel?" She asked, looking him over a little. "Any dizziness?" She asked reaching up to touch his forehead. "Your fever's gone," She told him smiling for real now.

"I feel ok," He told her and she nodded her head. "No dizziness, not right now." He was talking normally now, no pauses or sharp breaths. She looked down at her watch and nodded her head. It had been a little over fifteen hours since she brought him home, maybe they were heading into the final stretch now.

"How does your head feel?" She asked as she stood up and moved around the bed, looking him over.

"Ok," He said and she could see he was hiding something from her.

"Doctor?" She asked as she sat down on the other side of his bed. He looked down at his hands and stared at them for a long while, almost too long, as though he'd forgotten she said something. "Doctor?" She said again and his head jerked up and his eyes were filled with confusion.

"Rose?" He asked then shook his head and blinked, keeping his eyes closed for a long moment. "Ah, well, it's harder to keep a...hold of again." He told her and she understood what he meant. His mind was having trouble holding onto a single thought. Rose wasn't sure what this would mean to him, or if it was a permanent side effect of the withdrawals. She didn't know if the Doctor would be able to live like that, if it was permanent. She took his hand and he looked down at their linked fingers and sighed.

"Damn," He said shaking his head again. "That's incredibly annoying." She nodded her head and squeezed his hand. "To have a thought one second then gone the next and- he sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes slammed shut. "Rose," He choked her name out as he tried to open his eyes and look at her. Finally the pain seemed to ease and his breathing evened out again. It hit him so randomly, he felt totally fine one second and the next second it felt like his blood was one fire.

"Rose," He said, though his voice now sounded strained. "If anything should...if anything should..." He shook his head, harder now than before and growled deep in his throat. He needed to get this out! "The sonic screwdriver has a setting to get you...home." He practically spit out the last word, probably fighting to keep a hold on this thought. "Setting 222-4."

"You're going to be fine," Rose told him trying to sound reassuring. "And even if...if something were to happen..." She couldn't say the words; they were stuck in her throat. "You are going to be fine." She told him again making it sound more like a demand now then a statement.

"Rose, would you..." He winced and took a deep breath. "Talk to me." He told her after a long moment.

"About what?" She asked leaning back against the backboard, his hand still in hers.

"Anything, your voice..." He smiled at her or tried to, it ended up looking more like a grimace, "Your voice...helps." He finally settled on, not knowing exactly how to tell her that when she talked he could _think_ , that her voice helped him keep a hold of the now like nothing else in the known worlds.

"Ok," Rose said nodding her head as he settled his head on her shoulder. She began with stories from before they met. Stupid little things she'd done in her life. As she spoke she tried to ignore the fact that he was shaking, trying to control the pain. She told him about Jimmy Stone and the idiot he had been, and the idiot she had been with him. She told him what it was like, growing up watching your mum date different men, none of whom were good enough for her, all the while wondering what your life would have been like if your father had just _not_ been hit by that car. Then she told him about what it was like meeting him, only she told him as though he hadn't been there with her, like the stories were all new to him. After a while she looked down and realized he was asleep, not passed out or knocked unconscious, just...sleeping. His breathing was a little labored but nothing that looked to be alarming. She pulled her legs up onto the bed and pulled the covers over the two of them. She didn't think she would be able to sleep, but she wasn't going to leave him here to wake alone. She leaned against the headboard and continued talking in a soft soothing voice, running her hand through his hair.

-o-o-Love-o-o-

It started as a dull ache in his chest, an almost ignorable pain. His breathing was a little labored, a little uneasy, which was saying a lot, and none of it good, respiratory bypass system and all, and it worried him to some degree. He wasn't, as of yet, concerned, he had decided this was something he could and would make it through. But he hated what it was doing to Rose. Every time she looked at him he could see her worry, feel it like waves coming off of her. He opened his eyes when the pain in his chest passed by bearable into kind of annoying. Rose was there, right next to him, running her hand through his hair, with her eyes closed. After a minute she sighed and he closed his eyes again seconds before she opened hers.

"So, I don't know if I ever told you this," She said, her voice low a small smile on her face. "But, you changed my life so much." He was sure she thought he was still asleep as she whispered to him. He could hear the tears in her voice when she spoke next. "Taking my hand, pulling me into your world, it was the best thing that ever happened to me." She stopped talking and her hand stilled in his hair for a moment. "So, you have to get better ok?" She told him now, and he was sure she was crying openly, if not loudly. "You have to beat this, because you're stronger then all this." She told him sniffing just a little. "And when your better, and I mean _way_ better," She said her hand moving again, her fingers running through his hair. "I'll make sure you understand, just how important you are to me," She leaned over and the Doctor was hardly aware of the pain that was building in his chest as her lips touched his forehead and lingered there for a moment.

"I love you," She whispered before she pulled away, and, the Doctor was sure, for just a moment, his hearts stopped. She went back to stroking his hair, her steady breathing comforting him in a way he'd never experienced before. It took almost 15 minutes, and he was glad he had a better hold on time now it seemed, before the pain in his chest got to the point where he could no long hold it in.

"Rose," he hissed her name out, and hated the look of fear on her face when he finally opened his eyes.

"Doctor, are you in pain? What can I do?" She asked backing down the bed just a little so she could look at his face.

"Can you..." he hissed out a breath and clenched his teeth for a moment. "Can you help me...?" He shook his head a little and then closed his eyes, squeezed them shut tightly for a moment. "Help me to the med-bay?" He finally got out, though just the effort of it made his head spin.

"Of course," Rose said nodding her head as she stood and then turned and eased him out off the bed. "Lean on me Doctor." She told him, no room for argument, not that he could have even if he'd wanted to. She wrapped her arm around his waist and used her other hand to put his arm around her shoulders.

They walked out of his room and barley went ten steps before they saw the med-bay doors, open and waiting for them. Rose ran her hand over the wall of the ship as they went, silently thanking her for moving the room for her. She helped him up into the bed in the middle of the room. He looked up at her and she was a little surprised by the look in his eyes, such trust, she didn't think she deserved it.

"Ok," He finally said smiling at her, a real smile finally. "In that cabinet," He said pointing it out to her. "Third drawer from the top, little blue bottle," Rose nodded her head as she moved away from him, though she keep looking back at him as she moved across the room.

"What is it?" She asked as she opened the drawer and looked around inside it.

"A natural immune booster," He told her hoping it would help a little. "Can't risk any kind of pain killers because- He stopped talking abruptly took a deep breath then let it out slowly. "Because I don't know how they might react to whatever they gave me so- He stopped again and she could tell he was barely holding back the pain. It amazed her how very strong he was. She knew this ship had the power to synthesize anything, a small drop of his blood and they probably could have created whatever they had been using on him, but he never asked. Rose was sure it had never even crossed his mind. Rose didn't know a lot about withdrawals, or drug addiction, but she'd watched enough documentaries on the telly to know a little about the pain and the need to have the drug in your system again, the Doctor utterly amazed her.

"So, it's this and rest." He said taking a deep breath finally done. It must have been hard, to get that one thought out and it killed her, to see him like this.

"How..." Rose cleared her throat and blinked back the tears as she turned to the sink behind her. "How many do you need?" She asked when her voice was clear again.

"Three for now," He told her ignoring the tears he could hear in her voice. She was trying to be strong for him, he wasn't going to ruin the illusion for her. She came back with a cup of water and three pills. She pocketed the little blue bottle and smiled at him as he took the pills.

"Help me back to bed before..." His voice slide off into silence and his eyes drooped. "This stuff..." He smiled crookedly at her as his eyes opened and closed a few times. "Knocks you on your..." He trailed off again as his eyes fell shut and he passed out. Well, one thing could be said for the little pills, 'fast acting.' She just hoped they helped with everything else.

Rose knew, from experience, that the med-bay bed was not the most comfortable bed in the TARDIS. So she eased him off the bed and again, half carried half dragged him back to his room. She put him back to bed then sat in a chair right next to his bed. She looked down at her watch and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Twenty hours down, Rose thought as she watched him, his breathing more or less normal now, how long to go?

A/N- Ok, so what do we think? Next is the Doctor getting better, or is this just the calm before the storm? R&R I love hearing from you guys!


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